Award winning integrated marketing agency in the heart of London

In a way what we do is quite simple. We connect brands with media and get them to talk to each other. We help clients communicate and tell their story, and work with media to provide trusted and relevant content. Above all, we deliver PR that’s accountable. Not just pretty words and carefully crafted language – it’s what impacts your bottom line. We deliver campaigns that create profit and accelerate growth. It’s PR as you’d like it to be.

We make sure you get a bigger bang for your buck.

With strong roots in sales and executive management, we’re only interested in creating tangible value from PR programmes. We ensure that everything we do is underpinned by a relentless focus on your business performance. That’s why we’re an extension of your in-house team, a strategic partner in your marketing communications.

Intro

Gigabyte is a Taiwan-based technology company specialising in computer hardware. The company is best known for being a Tier 1 motherboard manufacturer but also provides a comprehensive product line comprising Graphics Cards, PC Components, PC Peripherals, Laptops, Slate Devices, Desktop PCs, Network Communications, Servers and Mobile Phones. Listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, Gigabyte was named the “Top 20 Taiwan Global Brand” by Taiwan External Trade Development Council, the country’s most prestigious business accolade.

Challenge

With a series of highly innovative products on the horizon, Gigabyte wanted to continue with the tradition of launching its products at a global roadshow. For the 5th consecutive year the company organised a global tech tour designed to get the brand in front of key journalists whilst showcasing and demoing the latest kit.
Kicking off in Asia with the inevitable news advantage, Gigabyte wanted to make sure that the tour’s European leg, coined Game On, remained every inch relevant and that its product showcase would still draw interest from key members of the press. To do this Gigabyte brought in Zaboura for the second year running, having previously worked with the agency on a similar product-led campaign.

Solution

Zaboura took on the entire logistics of the Game On tour closely liaising with the Gigabyte’s marketing team in Taiwan. Working with an allocated budget, the agency organised and ensured all aspects of the campaign from product shipping and event management through to media invites, press relations and media outreach. The result was a resounding success with a press room packed with top tech journalists and extensive news coverage followed by press requests for product reviews.

Intro

Kingston Technology is an independent technology company that develops, manufactures, sells and supports flash memory products and other computer-related memory devices. The company is the world’s biggest producer of DRAM memory modules, ranked second largest supplier of USB drives and is in the top five for flash cards and solid state drives according to Gartner. Kingston serves an international network of distributors, resellers, retailers and OEM customers. (67)

Challenge

Kingston Technology is a brand widely respected for the signature reliability of its products. Yet despite its excellent reputation, the company recognises the continuing need for product visibility and product understanding in a highly competitive market. Put simply, Kingston aims to be the number one choice for PC enthusiasts and the overclocking community, as well as appeal with its high performance brands including HyperX to key audiences of gamers and tech savvy consumers.

Solution

Zaboura is the eyes and ears for Kingston’s comprehensive reviews programme. The agency is responsible for ensuring that Kingston Technology is present in every notable group test and product round up in key technology press. Working as part of a wider agency network, Zaboura is tasked with generating review opportunities and managing their outcomes for every newly launched product. Zaboura also maintains press relations with the UK’s key review editors across trade and vertical press as well as national media. (80)

We have been working with Zaboura as our retained PR agency for several years. They deliver great results repeatedly in the right press both traditional and online. Their technical expertise and great press relationships aligned with their understanding of the clients goals give them their edge – Emilie Benitez, PR Manager EMEA, Kingston Technology

Intro

Olloclip is an early stage company with a great idea and humble beginnings that has literally kickstarted to become a global sensation in consumer technology. Its product also coined the olloclip is a quick-connect lens solution for iPhone and iPad users wanting to enhance their photography. A pocket-sized, high quality four-in-one lenses the olloclip is designed to boost capabilities of mobile photography. (57)

Challenge

With the invention of mobile lenses, Olloclip created a whole new category and so the brand needed to move quickly to ensure that it well and truly owned it from the start. Zaboura was briefed to launch a rigorous PR campaign to introduce Olloclip but also drive acceptance, recognition and recommendation of its lenses among key consumer tech press and influencer media. (65)

Solution

Zaboura painstakingly arranged countless reviews in outlets across national, tech and lifestyle media introducing the olloclip concept to just about every kind of iOS glitterati. Leaving no stone unturned the team took to trade shows and road tours to showcase Olloclip across Europe creating widespread brand advocacy and driving user demand. (49)

Intro

Artesian Solutions is an early stage company providing social intelligence for B2B sales. The company focuses on delivering a customised insight service to clients who want to keep sales staff abreast with business critical knowledge. By providing real time contextual information, Artesian empowers sales teams to generate prospects, increase revenue and reach deeper customer engagement.

Challenge

Artesian engaged Zaboura to raise its business profile as well as product and market understanding to create new revenue opportunities. The company wanted to educate the markets about the concept of Social Selling and be positioned as the leader in the space. Zaboura was asked to create a PR programme to communicate the change using Artesian can bring to the sales performance of its customers.

Solution

Zaboura has just launched a PR programme comprising a mix of corporate positioning, newsjacking, blogger outreach and thought leadership. It’s still early days, so watch this space…

Intro

Supermicro is a global leader in high performance, high efficiency server technology, innovation and green computing. Best known for high performance computing, Supermicro is the back end provider of IT solutions that keeps the likes of Yahoo and some of the world’s leading technology companies functional on a daily basis. The company supplies to a number of sectors specifically focusing on storage, finance and most recently cloud gaming.

Challenge

Supermicro felt that there was a certain degree of misunderstanding in the industry around the company’s products, what it provides and who it works with. This partly stemmed from the fact that the industry still appeared to rely on historical knowledge but also from limited marketing activity and low engagement with trade and channel media. Supermicro UK invited Zaboura to develop a communications programme designed to educate the channel about its transformation into a full service provider as well as its key areas of business focus.

Solution

Zaboura took on Supermicro’s marketing and PR responsibility effectively becoming an extension of the company’s operational team. In the capacity, Zaboura is responsible for developing and implementing an integrated marketing programme. The agency also reactivated Supermicro’s press relations having launched with a press tour and moving on to a sustained media relations campaign.

Intro

CyberLink is the world’s leading multimedia software company and pioneer in video and audio technologies on PCs and portable devices including tablets and smartphones. Based in Taiwan and listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, CyberLink is internationally acclaimed for revolutionizing the way multimedia is experienced today. Its portfolio of multimedia applications provides users with a range of entertainment and creativity software with cutting-edge products such as PowerDVD, PowerDirector and Media Suite among the world’s best-selling digital multimedia applications. (78)

Challenge

Ever since the company was founded in the mid 90’s CyberLink’s software has been the preferred choice for video and photo editing, media playback and media creation among PC prosumers and enthusiasts alike.
But with the recent advent of content driven technologies and widespread availability of portable devices such as smartphones and tablets, CyberLink’s traditional market has begun to evolve. This brought about some fundamental changes into how users consume multimedia. Recognising these new trends, CyberLink briefed Zaboura, its long standing PR agency, to initiate a transition campaign taking the company’s products into the mainstream and lifestyle media whilst still catering for its core audience. (104)

Solution

Working closely with CyberLink’s EMEA team, Zaboura is responsible for generating a continuous flow of media coverage for the software brand. The team is tasked with ensuring that literally not a week goes by without several articles of CyberLink’s software being published or reviewed. In addition, Zaboura manages a targeted reviews programme both in tech and lifestyle media designed to drive downloads of CyberLink’s latest apps. Zaboura also handles CyberLink’s product launches, organises and facilitates media tours and product desk reviews. (81)

Zaboura’s relationship with the press is one of the main reasons why we have been working with them for many years. ROI is at the heart of our marketing policies and Zaboura are consistent in delivering exceptional results - Richard Carriere, Senior Vice-President, Global Marketing at CyberLink

Intro

Netatmo is a French innovation company pioneering IoT technologies to develop consumer electronics for a better and connected lifestyle. Founded in 2011 by a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of health technology brand Withings, Netatmo reinvents universal concepts and traditional products to give them a new functional purpose in an interconnected environment.

Challenge

When Netatmo launched its first flagship product the Urban Weather Station, the company has taken the IoT sector by storm. But in the market where the boundaries of genuine innovation and gimmicky products have been heavily blurring, Netatmo needed to establish itself as a credible and viable business poised for growth and expansion, while delivering unparalleled excellence in design and innovation.

Solution

Taking over from an incumbent agency Zaboura hit the ground running with a product launch campaign that within weeks delivered world class publicity and instant fame. From broadcast to tier 1 broadsheets Netatmo’s products were hailed as game changing and the company quickly positioned as a serious player in connected technology. Most recently, Netatmo has been unveiled by Apple as its preferred partner in its HomeKit protocol. Zaboura continues to focus on delivering tier 1 media coverage, taking care of product PR, event management as well as corporate positioning.

Intro

Cooler Master is a computer hardware manufacturer from Taiwan. The company’s business encompasses a comprehensive lineup of thermal solutions for a full range of applications. Its products range from heat sinks and fans to component housing, chassis, PSU, coolers, cooling pads and ducting for computers, industrial machinery, telecommunications equipment, and many other devices. Cooler Master is also a cooling solution OEM vendor for many major brand names in the computer industry.

Challenge

Computer case specialists Cooler Master need to gain a foothold in the UK market, having lost ground to rival companies following two years of inactivity. The brand needed resurrecting for UK consumers brought in Zaboura having had the agency recommended by an industry e-tailer.

Solution

Zaboura’s first task was to reconnect with consumers so the agency initiated activities on the company's brand perception. The agency’s deep knowledge of the gaming enthusiasts' market informed PR strategy which focussed on elevating key product features that positively resonated with PC enthusiasts and PC gamers. These unique characteristics gradually helped to position the products in key media followed by carefully managed reviews campaign. The knock-on effect saw the company achieve number two position in the UK within one year.

Zaboura helped us re-establish our brand and its position in a competitive marketplace after having left the UK market for two years - Miodrag Relic, Business Development Manager, Cooler Master

Roughly 70-90% of your customers are on social media, and becoming increasingly vocal about their interactions with brands. Remember musician Dave Carroll’s ‘United Breaks Guitars’? (and that was just the start for them). Prospective customers will be watching carefully and making decisions about whether they want to do business with you. 92.5% of companies are letting their customers down on social media. 67% of Twitter’s 310 million active users have reached out on the platform to a brand to get help or service. That’s nearly 208 million people, 53% of whom expect a response within 1 hour. Shockingly, 58% of those customers reaching out don’t even get a response. This will cause 38% of them to have a negative perception about that brand and 60% to tweet about it.

A social media strategy allows you to set goals and objectives with which you can measure impact, so crisis planning should absolutely be a part of it. It is so often the case that we see companies – large and small – desperately trying to put one together whilst a drama unfolds. A recent case in point, a certain mobile giant that failed to acknowledge or respond to the issue (one that had harmed customers, blown devices up and caused a recall to be issued) for an entire week. When they did, it was cold and poorly executed, causing further public outrage on social media and even leading to competitor ads mocking the whole debacle. A crisis plan already in place could have prevented most negative comments and feelings. They would have been listening to all the channels, so been able to spot the problem coming, known to respond sooner as the pot boiled, and they could have diagnosed the product malfunction sooner. They lost billions, and the havoc wreaked on their brand image via social media was irreparable. Don’t be like them:

Have a plan

A crisis will arise sooner or later, and your social management team will be on the front line. If you aren’t yet on any social channels, it isn’t too late to start (you’re earlier than you think, compared to most, shockingly, based on the Rational Interaction report). And social media can in fact be a valuable tool for effectively handling crisis situations, in spite of how daunting it can seem after having seen companies destroyed by vocal angry twitter users. Plan ahead, and think about the potential crises that could happen to you, then make time to plan your defence. Be proactive, rather than reactive. Having all of that up your sleeve will increase employee confidence and speed up your response time when it does hit.

Keep calm & address it immediately

Take the chance right away to admit mistakes and show how much you care. And not with canned responses. Be authentic and transparent. People are much more likely to forgive those who demonstrate sincerity. Whether it’s a faulty airbag that needs recalling or a bad batch of baby food, any issue will magnify if left unaddressed, and rumours will start to circulate, causing even further potential brand damage. Reaction time is critical. One recent survey shows that, on average, 40% of customers complaining on social media expect a response within an hour, and 32% expect a response within 30 minutes, but an Eptica study showed that the average response time from brands on Twitter was 7 hours and 12 minutes. All brands should be strategising like Nordstrom, who recently responded to a twitter complaint in 17 seconds and demonstrated how in every crisis, there is the opportunity to come out on top from complaint handling. As well as reaction speed, it’s also about the way you react. You need to be on the channels your customer is using, so your approach must be data-driven.

Monitor everything

We’ll say it again: it’s all in the data. You should also be planning to evaluate the crisis. Those rumours and negative comments can all be detected with the right technological tools. Knowing how to proceed comes from listening to what’s happening and how people are feeling. Tools like Clarabridge’s will help – you’ll be able to keep track of mentions across platforms and automate ‘we’re sorry, we’re working on it’ replies, that redirect afflicted customers to an official statement. Look at your influencers and find out where your loyal brand advocates are so you can let them know they can still trust you, and for good reason. When things are rough, these influencers can be very useful in ensuring that no one further turns off your brand.

Move fast

When something terrible happens relating to a product or service of yours, the last thing affected customers want to see during a crisis is a sales letter for the new model, focused on increasing the company’s financial bottom line, or a scheduled post about winning an award for quality, for example. Be sensitive to feelings and content that will only make things worse, and be very careful of tone. Put ads and scheduled social media content on hold to show customers that you’re taking matters seriously and that it’s your main priority, particularly if you must keep the public updated. It will give your brand some power to steer conversations and tone and mitigate damages. Clarabridge’s latest eBook “In Case of Emergency: 6 Rules of Social Media Crisis Management” details essential best practices for planning and implementing your social crisis management procedures.

Learn from your mistakes and build a plan that provides your business with the right tools to handle the worst-case scenarios and limit loss of customers and future revenue. But don’t just respond to problems and complaints; take every opportunity to engage with your community, about the good and bad. There’s nothing bad about increased engagement.